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Comment by jackvalentine | Hacker News Reader

My wife does the shopping list and I do the shopping... she hasn't been to the supermarket in ~2 years. It's been a really interesting view in to how the supermarket layout changes because her list is getting more and more out of order and requires me to correct it before going to the store.

I guess we should swap roles for a bit to correct the issue!

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Let's just say I have the typical mindset of someone on this site and so for larger buys I add ingredients into Excel per recipe/need then rearrange into sections (Meat, Fridge, etc) roughly in order of store sections, 2 column layout, print. Only takes a few minutes and saves more time than that, but it is helpful being both the shopper and list writer like you say.

I'm very quick since I'm on a mission. I don't like the process of browsing but enjoy completing lists (I blame video games), there's a strange enjoyment folding that paper to hide the completed sections. When we go together my wife just wanders off knowing she needs 2 things for work snacks or for the dogs or something and by the time I've found her, I finished the entire shop and she's barely carrying 7 items since she didn't need a basket for just 2 things. Totally different mindset, she would say I worry too much, I would say I like certainty where I can have it.

That gives me an idea for a nifty tool that could reorder shopping lists according to the layout of the supermarket of your choice. Obviously someone should train the tool first; either you or the community.

Basically every supermarket has a laminated aisle guide hanging somewhere that tells you what is where - snap a pic of one of them and use that for training.

It's the first time I hear of it. Where can you find it (that isn't behind employees-only doors)?

Usually hanging at the end of the aisle. Go ahead and ask a worker to show you. Something like this: https://explore-blog.griffith.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015...

Thanks! I'll ask the next time I'm in the store then. So far, the only such inconspicuous document I ever found lying around in a supermarket was a binder with a list of allergens for products in the meat and pastry sections.

This is really useful, but this example is curiously missing things like veggies, fruits, meat, or bread. I believe they think that those items are not hard to find.

> veggies, fruits, (...) not hard to find.

Those specific items need a full-size map of where every specific type is placed; and/or clearly visible large labels on the shelves/boxes. Yes, a significant part of the population - myself included - has to resort to hunting for labels or doing image search on their phones, to save themselves from the shame of asking a store worker which one of this green stuff is the "blue peanut pepper broccoli" or whatever it is their partners put on their shopping lists.

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